LDS artist paints deity with reverence

PROVO, Utah — LDS artist Brian Kershisnik approaches painting deity with caution and a reverence, he told an audience Friday at a Brigham Young University Museum of Art symposium.The keynote speaker at the Biennial Art, Belief, Meaning Symposium, "Picturing the Divine," Kershisnik said he often questions whether he should paint a picture of God before he begins. The pictorial realm depicting deity is tainted with "unholy" representations, he said in an address sprinkled with humor.The symposium was presented for the seventh time in the past 10 years. It included a plethora of LDS artists discussing their interpretation of art in their faith. Presentations were also by scholars, art professionals and BYU students discussing visual arts, literature and film.Some art is better off not done, except for children's depictions of God, which, in their limited scope, are the most honest." I must depend on childlike revelations" to produce paintings of God, he said.An artist he is accountable to God for what he paints, he said, and also accountable for the people he depicts in the painting."They are not mere toys," he said.Occasionally he needs a course correction, which he described as repentance.Kershisnik's "Nativity," which depicts the birth of Jesus Christ, was on display at the symposium. The large painting features an abundance of angels, both men and women, surrounding Mary, the Christ child and Mary's husband, Joseph, behind her.Placing Joseph behind Mary fits traditional Jewish childbirth, one woman at the event said. "It was astonishing to me," she said."Putting Joseph where I put him was completely intuitive," Kershisnik said.Not a follower of realism, Kershisnik said he believed it would be inappropriate to create realistic depictions of sacred art, which he said would invite deception."We don't know what (Christ) looks like," he said.Even the Arnold Friburg realistic Book of Mormon paintings "are almost a tyranny," he said, because no one knows what various objects, such as the Liahona, actually looked like. Some artists paint it as a small round object while others paint it large.Asked if he thinks his paintings make God smile, Kershisnik responded, "If he doesn't smile or I don't think he smiles, you'll never see it."He described his God as a working God."My Jesus has his sleeves rolled up. He's working and I'm thinking about what he's doing. My heart does not condemn me," he said of his work. "If it does I'll paint over it."Kershisnik described his family members as his critics. They have fun with his work, he said, then he kicks them out of his studio "and (I) do everything they suggest."His relationship with God colors his work."I don't get the impression when I read the New Testament that the Lord was always easy to be with," he said. "Something is expected of us. He's not mean, but true."